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May 25 2025

The Roundup: Crime agenda. Massive attack. America's Pope.

SUN MAY 25 2024
David Akin's Roundup
Crime agenda. Massive attack. America's Pope.
Canada
RCMP calls for budget boost -- and the Liberals will likely say yes
The RCMP is making a plea to the Carney government for more members and money to protect Canadians, especially from rising levels of online hate, youth radicalization and even increasing incidences of domestic terrorism charges. As David Akin reports, the RCMP may find the new Liberal government ready to respond to its requests. [Global National]

The new Liberal minority government plans tougher justice measures, though some experts say the policies are more symbolic than substantial. [Global]

Ottawa says its new system for import duties streamlines the process. For flower farmer Marsha Sikma, it has mostly streamlined frustration. [National Post]

Bloc Québécois MPs will be reading the speech from their offices, absent ‘on principal’ in response to a move they say is ‘disrespectful to a lot of Quebecers.’ [Hill Times]
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The Provinces
‘They’re not coming’: N.B. border town says fewer U.S. visitors making big impact
Traffic at the New Brunswick-Maine border is down 38 per cent, and for businesses that rely on traffic from south of the border, it's been a real struggle.  [Global]

The budget tabled last week by Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy contained a brief reference to spending $55.8 million over two years to train those new teachers by 2027.
Aurora
Elsewhere
Russia hits Ukraine with the largest air attack of the war so far
A massive Russian drone-and-missile attack targeted the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and other regions in the country for a second consecutive night, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens, officials said early Sunday. [NPR]
For a president who has fashioned himself as a shrewd steward of the economy, the decision to escalate his global trade war on Friday appeared curious and costly. It capped off a week that saw Mr. Trump ignore repeated warnings that his agenda could worsen the nation’s debt, harm many of his own voters, hurt the finances of low-income families and contribute far less in growth than the White House contends. [NYT] (🎁 link)
Can the Church Evolve?
Fintan O'Toole: The choice of Prevost is a reminder that the Church has not survived for so long without a kind of political genius. Although it is a male gerontocracy, the College of Cardinals has seemed at times to have a sixth sense for the undercurrents of history. Its choice in 1978 of a charismatic Pole, Karol Wojtyła, as Pope John Paul II brilliantly anticipated the fall of the Soviet empire. This time it has made an almost equally bold decision: to create, at a moment of crisis for the US and its place in the world, an alternative model of American global leadership.

… the choice of Prevost can be seen as somewhat analogous to the recent victories of Mark Carney in Canada and Anthony Albanese in Australia: being the un-Trump candidate is an electoral advantage. Prevost was that candidate, not merely in offering continuity with Francis but in his personality as a quiet, thoughtful, and thoroughly cosmopolitan kind of American. As Leo XIV he will stand against Trump’s demonization of immigrants, attacks on international institutions, and denial of the climate crisis..
Recommended Sunday long read. Non-subscribers to this publication will be asked to enter an e-mail address in order to read. [New York Review of Books]
The survey, commissioned by the AAPC, found that a majority of consultants – 59 percent – use AI for work at least a few times a week. [Campaigns and Elections]
Media

On May 5, the Pulitzer Prizes recognized these stories among its winners and finalists across 15 different journalism categories. For the second year in a row, the Prizes required that entrants disclose whether they relied on AI technologies. Each of these stories, which include one award winner and three finalists, disclosed AI usage to the judging committee.

Similar to last year’s cohort, generative AI tools were not well represented among these AI disclosures. Rather, reporters I spoke to who worked on these stories primarily used machine learning techniques that preceded the release of ChatGPT and rise of large language models (LLMs). Overall, many of the AI tools used this year count investigative reporters as their earliest adopters in newsrooms. [Editor and Publisher]
The Michener Awards Foundation (MAF) today announced it is awarding Robert Fife with its prestigious Michener-Baxter Award for exceptional service to Canadian public service journalism.  Congratulations, Bob! Well deserved and possibly overdue honour! [Michener Foundation]

[Translation:] Mr. Bock-Côté ... failed in his duty to refrain from using terms that tend to perpetuate prejudice against Muslims, thus committing an ethical breach of the principle of discrimination. [Conseil de presse du Québec]
He was a Life member of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery, he covered federal politics from Pierre Trudeau to Justin Trudeau. His work was published in the Carillon (University of Regina), the Regina Leader Post, the Canadian Press, the Toronto Sun, Canwest, Ottawa City magazine, the Hill Times, and iPolitics.
Science and Technology

One month of web browsing data shows most respondents visited a search page with an AI-generated summary, but visits to in-depth content about AI were much rarer. [Pew Research Center]
Google spent the majority of its I/O 2025 event discussing AI. Between the Gemini app and various Gemini models, there are seven key features that you can check out now or in the near future. [Lifehacker]
The Calendar
  • 1300 : 025B West Block - PIerre Poilievre addresses a meeting of the CPC national caucus.
  • 1400 : 225B West Block - PM Carney addresses a meeting of the LPC national caucus.
  • 1430 : Toronto - GPC MP Elizabeth May speaks to the Toronto-St Paul's Green Party riding association

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